Almanac

Police Calls

This information is from the Menlo Park Police Department and the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. Under the law, people charged with offenses are considered innocent unless convicted.

LADERA

Auto burglary report: Someone smashed a passenger side window and broke into a vehicle parked in the 3600 block of Sand Hill Road and stole a purse containing $500 in cash, credit and debit cards, checkbooks and other items, Sept. 20.

PORTOLA VALLEY

Theft reports:

• A copper bird cage with a value of about $200 is missing from atop a spa at a residence on Alpine Road, Sept. 24.

• Three rhododendrons and three Chinese witch hazel plants, a total value of $450, are missing from the front of a residence on Grove Drive, Sept. 24.

WOODSIDE

Residential burglary report: A housekeeper reported the ransacking of a house on Southday Way and was unsure as to whether anything had been taken from inside cabinet and dresser drawers. The owner is living in China and unreachable. An investigation turned up five sets of fingerprints from inside the house, Sept. 23.

Auto burglary reports:

• A hiker visiting the Thornwood Open Space Preserve parked at Old La Honda and Portola roads returned to his vehicle to find that a passenger side window had been broken and that $350 in property was missing, Sept. 20.

• A handbag valued at $100 is missing from a locked van parked at Old La Honda and Portola roads; its passenger side window was broken. The driver and passenger had been taking a walk on a trail, Sept. 17.

Theft reports:

• Someone recently stole three backhoe buckets from a road construction site on Runnymede Road near Canada Road, Sept. 17.

• A resident of Crest Road is missing a watch from the top drawer of his nightstand. The resident has a video camera watching the front door and was investigating for anything unusual, Sept. 16.

Providing false information report: A cyclist stopped for a moving violation on Canada Road told the deputy that she didn't have an ID. A search by a dispatcher found an inconsistency in the identity information she did give, and she responded by presenting a driver's license and an apology, adding that she was "broke." She was cited and released, Sept. 28.

MENLO PARK

Residential burglary reports:

• Someone broke into a locked garage of a house under construction on Bay Road and got away with items with a total estimated value of $7,585, including two flat-screen TVs, an empty purse, a video game console with game controllers and games, a woman's bike, a laptop computer, a surfboard, a DVR/DVD player with speakers and a printer, Sept. 28.

• Two computers — an Apple laptop and an iMac — are missing from a business located on Burgess Drive. The thief apparently entered through an open front window, Sept. 30.

• Someone broke into a residence on Pierce Road through the bathroom window and absconded with a video game console and game and $84 in cash, Sept. 24.

• A man with a backpack in a shopping cart in the Safeway supermarket on Sharon Park Drive picked out $160 worth of shaving razors and skin cream, placed them into his backpack and left without paying for them, Sept. 25.

Robbery report: A male and a female, both about 14 years old and wearing black hooded sweatshirts, robbed a 15-year-old male of his $300 iPhone while he was walking home from school on Coleman Avenue near Santa Monica Avenue. The male robber, of medium build and short hair, asked to borrow the victim's phone to call his mother, then handed the phone off to the female, who ran off with it. When the phone's owner attempted to run after her, the male punched him on the side of the face and warned him not to follow them. The victim refused medical treatment, Sept. 27.

Animal cruelty report: The Peninsula Humane Society has taken custody of four dogs from a residence on Sevier Avenue in a follow-up to a report of two loose pit bull puppies. Police tracked the dogs to the residence and discovered two other dogs. All were malnourished, afflicted by fleas and lethargic and were living in a yard covered in dog feces with no supply of water or food, Oct. 1.

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